After missing the playoffs last year, one of the team’s many goals this season was to re-enter the tournament. However, that wasn’t the ultimate goal.
“We didn’t make playoffs last year — this year we did. That was a goal,” defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “Are we happy with losing in five? Absolutely not. That’s the message many of us will carry into the summer. Making the playoffs should be the standard.”
“We made the playoffs. We can call it a successful season, but I think it was too much of an up-and-down season,” veteran forward Ondrej Palat admitted. “There were great moments, and there were not-so-great moments. Consistency was not there. I don’t think we won more than three straight games. So, yeah, we made the playoffs, but there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
With the above being said said, making the playoffs is still an important achievement for a franchise that is building toward becoming a Stanley Cup contender. And the experienced gained with playing in the playoffs should payoff down the road.
“I think it was a step in the right direction, but we’re still far from where we want to go,” said forward Jesper Bratt, who enjoyed a career year offensively with 67 assists and 88 points. “The coaches and staff did a good job getting us there, but we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We weren’t going to get to the Stanley Cup Final out of nowhere. It’s a process to get better. I think we embraced that challenge. I think we did a fairly good job, but we’re far from happy.”
While making the playoffs is part of that process, the Devils have higher aspirations. Namely, silver chalice aspirations.
“I don’t think our goal should ever be to make the playoffs. I think it should be to win a Stanley Cup,” defenseman Brett Pesce said. “That’s the reality of it. I think our team’s good enough to do it. We kind of have a little bit of everything that most teams don’t. We’ve got a special group here, so I think our standard should be that and that only.”
Looking back on the regular season, it was almost a tale of two seasons: pre- and post-holiday break.
On Dec. 27, the Devils had a 24-11-3 record for 51 points. That was tied (Vegas, Winnipeg) for the most points in the NHL at that juncture. But from Dec. 28 to the end of the regular season, the Devils went 18-22-4.
“There were parts and stretches of the season that were really good, where we showed great play,” Bratt said. “But we had a hard time winning more than three games in a row, and a hard time gaining traction. We kind of knew the recipe for winning, but we were lacking that consistency. That became a challenge for us. That’s what separates the greats.”
The Devils have gone through some highs and lows as a franchise over the past few years. The club earned a playoff berth in 2018, followed by four years of rebuilding. That culminated in 2022-23 when the team set franchise records with 52 wins and 112 points and won its First Round matchup against rival New York Rangers in seven games.
Last year, a rash of injuries ravaged the club and knocked them out of the playoffs. However, the team has righted the ship this season. Though improvements still need to be made, the Devils laid the defensive structure that is required for playoff success.
“I think we’ve got a good foundation to build off now,” defenseman Dougie Hamilton said. “It’s been up and down since I’ve been here, but I think we have the foundation now to really build on this season. We have all the players in place to do that. It’s up to us to get better this summer and work hard. Be ready to be better next season.”
“I think it’s kind of the learning curve that a lot of teams need to get through,” said Palat, who experienced several setbacks in Tampa Bay, including missing the playoffs in 2017 and a first round exit in 2019, before the Lightning finally broke through with back-to-back titles in 2020 and '21. “Just learn from a season like this and then be better next season.”
You can’t play the “What If Game,” but a healthy D corps and Jack Hughes in the playoffs and who knows what this team could have accomplished. Yes, injuries are part of the game. And yes, every team deals with them. But a healthy Jack and Luke Hughes would certainly have benefited the power play, and could have been a difference maker. The potential is certainly there to make some noise.
“Personnel - we’ve got superstars, young guys, old guys. We have a little bit of everything,” Pesce said. “Great goaltending. So yeah, I think we could do some damage.”
“The standard going into next year is definitely going to be higher than it was this year, even though we already had high standards,” forward Timo Meier said. “Now, knowing what we’re capable of and having those goals in front of us, we can work towards them. I’m already excited for next year.”
If nothing else, this season metastasized the belief in the room.
“We’ll be back. We’ll be better,” captain Nico Hischier said. “The next step for this team is having a great year. Winning a division and going for a playoff run.
“It starts now for next year. … How you go home, how you prepare yourself to be the best version you can be. That’s raising the bar.”
For now, the Devils head into an unwanted early off-season, and with that will come changes. General manager Tom Fitzgerald and his staff will get to work on improving his club for next season, just as they have every summer.
Last July, Fitzgerald et al added key pieces in defensemen Dillon, Pesce and Johnathan Kovacevic and goaltender Markstrom to improve the glaring weakness on the back end. There’s no doubt they succeeded in that venture. Now they’ll do it again for the current roster.
Markstrom, one of those key summer acquisitions last year, was brought to New Jersey to strengthen its crease. At the time, the Swedish netminder saw the potential for success in New Jersey from the assembled roster.
“Looking at this team before I arrived and coming here, we got it. We’re not far off,” he said.
And a year later after nine months of battling with his new team, his belief has only calcified.
“Even more so,” he said. “It’s not far off. We just have to do things a little bit differently and the goalie play a little bit better. That’s an easy fix.
“There were certain times during the season when you walked into the room and you knew you’re going to win the hockey game. You feel unbeatable. That’s the feeling we have to carry into more games than we did and just overwhelm teams. We’re capable of it. Everybody saw it and everybody felt it. We just have to be able to bring that out more consistently.”